Cherry Bomb
by Random1377
Summary: Microfiction.  Preseries angst focusing on the Suzuhara children.  Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I don't own EVA. If the owners say to, I'll take this story offline. Thanks.

Cherry Bomb

By Random1377

There was a day, in the year 2015, that Touji Suzuhara's life was turned upside down, and never allowed to recover. As with most tragedies, the day started like any other, with school and baseball practice and things of that nature – along with a healthy dose of ribbing for his younger sister, Kimiko, who was lying on the couch when he arrived home from school, watching her favorite anime and snacking on a box of pocky.

Standing in her way, Touji leaned down and poked her in the stomach, commenting that she was looking a bit on the porky side, and that maybe he would just cook _her_ for dinner rather than heading into the city with the money their father had left them for the day. She had never been a very thin girl, but her father told her that he had always been a bit heavy until he hit puberty, and now he was as thin as a reed. Kimiko, being a good-natured girl, did not pay much mind to her weight, unless Touji was giving her a hard time.

Which, that day, he did, pretending to groan with effort as he lifted her – kicking and screaming – off of the couch, puffing his cheeks out as he gasped that she must weigh nearly a half ton. Pounding her small fists into his chest, Kimiko protested that she was less than half of what he weighed, and if he didn't watch it, he would tip their father's car over the next time they went for a drive.

When this next drive might take place, neither knew. Their father had been very busy over the past few months, so they did not have much time to spend as a family, but they were happy, for the most part. There were arguments – heavens, there were arguments – but what family, even the most well-adjusted, was without those?

Dropping the girl none too gently on the floor, Touji mumbled that she'd probably taste too fatty anyway, and they might as well go into the city after all. Kimiko replied by 'humphing' and kicking him in the shins, then skittering away and running to the door to pull her shoes on, calling over her shoulder that _she_ had the money, and that if he wanted to eat, he had best hurry up.

So into the city the two siblings went, trading punches and verbal abuse as they went in search of dinner. Being late afternoon, the streets were bustling, and vendors of all sorts lined the pavement, hawking their wares. At one such vendor, Touji came up short, calling his sister over excitedly and holding up a small, round ball with a braided green string sticking out of the top. When her face remained blank, Touji grew exasperated, asking if she had never seen a cherry bomb before.

No one ever sees a cherry bomb coming, he explained. Being so small, they fit into a pocket or book bag without making a lump, and they let off such a big bang that you'd think they were three times the size.

Kimiko shrugged and pointed out that she didn't like stupid stuff like bombs and fireworks, and that maybe Touji should show it to his friend Aida because while he might care, she certainly did not.

Touji held out his hand and demanded his share of their dinner money, insisting that this type of firecracker was harder and harder to come by every day. Though she tried to dissuade him by pointing out that he would not have enough to eat, Kimiko ultimately gave in to the pressure and handed her older brother enough to buy the cherry bomb.

The nature of people being what it was, Touji began complaining that he was hungry before they had gone five blocks. The nature of kindness being what _it_ was, Kimiko shared her dinner with him, lecturing him the whole time about being wise with one's money until he humbly admitted that she was probably right.

She was still relishing this admission when sirens began to wail throughout the city.

As they had been living in the city for years, both knew what to do – find a shelter, go to ground, duck and cover, get safe. But they had come so far from home that they had no idea where the closest shelter was, forcing them to follow the throng. One by one, the shelters around them filled up, leaving them and a handful of others on the streets.

Outraged, Touji pounded his fist into a nearby building, wincing as this resulted in a rather sharp pain. Rolling her eyes, Kimiko pointed out that this was probably just another drill, and they should just go home. After another fifteen minutes of walking, the girl was forced to admit that maybe this really was an emergency, since the sirens were still wailing and no one was on the streets, and perhaps they should find a shelter that would take them in despite the number limits placed on them. But even as the words left her mouth, the ground began to shake… and the buildings were drawn down out of sight, leaving only the reinforced ones to show that there was a city at all.

Panic set in. Wildly, the two began to run through the streets, finally finding a building near the edge of the city and hiding in the lobby, too scared to even contemplate what was going on outside as dull booms and the scream of VTOL engines filled the air. Touji risked a look outside only once, but he could not see what the JSSDF was fighting, so he quickly returned to Kimiko's side, wrapping an arm loosely around her shoulder as they settled in to wait.

They both screamed as a monumental explosion rocked the ground under their feet, and suddenly, there was a preternatural silence. Kimiko whispered that they should leave – there was no telling how long the quiet would last, and it was already getting close to dark. Touji insisted that they should stay put for the time being, in case the fighting wasn't done. So far, he argued, the fighting had not come near where the two were hiding, and if they went out, they were just running a bigger risk.

Kimiko reluctantly agreed, and they stayed where they were.

For two hours they sat in uncertainty and breathless silence, too scared to make small talk… though Touji _did_ hold her tightly against him and promise that he would protect her no matter what. Had it been any other building – any other one at all – the outcome would have been different.

Glancing out of the front of the building as movement caught her eye, Kimiko gasped, pointing to a giant robot rising up like magic from the street several hundred feet in front of them. It was purple and green and black, and even though they were looking at it from behind, the horn on its head was clearly visible, rising up like a bad omen to scratch at the black sky overhead.

As they watched, the robot took two clumsy steps…and fell, face-first, into the street.

Touji snorted, shaking his head in amazement. This was their defense? Whoever was piloting the robot must be a rookie, he decided, though his attention – and horror – was soon directed to the monstrosity lumbering its way up the street towards the prone robot. He and his sister watched, slack jawed, as the creature (they each reached the unspoken conclusion that this was not a robot, and obviously not a human creation) reached down and picked the purple robot up by the head, lifting it high up into the air.

Run. The word escaped Touji's numb lips as the spike on the enemy's elbow drew back and began to glow. Run. Go. Move. RUN! Kimiko nodded, still gaping at the sight, and struggled to her feet.

They nearly reached the door.

The entire building shuddered as the giant robot smashed into it, pulverizing several key supports and raining debris down over the two escaping siblings. With a shout, Touji pushed Kimiko towards the door… but his timing was horribly off, for while he managed to shove her out of the way of a collapsing support, a large section of roof (held up by the support) caved in, burying his sister in the blink of an eye.

Touji never hesitated. Ignoring the still-falling bits of building, he dove at the pile of rubble, plowing through it with his bare hands and finding his sister dazed, but still conscious, her eyes blurry and unfocused as she shook her head and told him that she could not feel her left leg.

A quick look down explained why, as Touji found the limb pulverized by a very large chunk of reinforced concrete, looking as if it was already severed. Blood was pouring onto the floor so fast it looked like a flood, and the only thing Touji could think was that he had to stop it any way he could.

If ever he had believed that there was a god, it would have been right then and there. That day was the one day that week – the only day that _month_ – he had worn his school uniform instead of his tracksuit.

This simple fact was all that stood between his sister and death's door.

Whipping his belt off, Touji wrapped it around her thigh, praying that all those lame action movies he watched were right as he cinched it tight to staunch the flow of blood from the wound, trying not to sob as his sister groaned with pain. He had no idea how many bones had been broken, or what internal organs had been ruptured – but he knew things were bad, not just because of her nearly-severed leg, but by the flecks of blood that sprayed from her lips every time she coughed.

And outside, the behemoths raged on.

Sliding his arms under the girl's body, Touji pretended that there was nothing in the world but her. Bracing himself, he pulled, gritting his teeth as his sister whimpered in pain. Grunting with the strain, he redoubled his efforts, knowing that if he did not get her free, they would both be killed. Sweat poured down his face as his thigh and back muscles flexed, exerting every ounce of power until finally, something in her leg… gave.

Kimiko's shriek of agony would echo in Touji's nightmares until the day he died, forcing hot tears of guilt and powerlessness to his eyes as her body came free of the wreckage. He called her name, but she simply lay still in his arms, her eyes rolling all the way to the back and showing nothing but white as her mind escaped to the only place it could, removing the pain and replacing it with smothering unconsciousness.

Unable to hold back, Touji turned his head and threw up, saturating his shirtsleeve with hot bile as his stomach rebelled, spurned by his gibbering mind's insistence on pointing out that Kimiko was lighter than she was when he had lifted her off the couch less than four hours before. With violent force, he rammed this thought back down into his mind, hoisted her gently into his arms… and ran, praying that the hospital was undamaged and that he would be able to get help in time.

Fortunately, Tokyo-3 had been built for the sole purpose of defending against angels, and in any war, casualties were expected and prepared for. Though the battle was mere blocks away, triage center 321 was open and available for patients, accepting and treating one Kimiko Suzuhara (obvious injuries after initial workup: loss of limb, leg, left; punctured lung, right; fractured wrist, compound, left; further injuries listed in patient file SK423) and one Touji Suzuhara (injuries: cut, facial, left side, shallow).

The doctors and nurses on staff at triage center 321 were well compensated for their work that night, and every day that they worked that there was an angel attack, earning quadruple pay plus hazard bonuses for their courage and bravery – largely because the center was by no means as fortified as a shelter. This fact was never more apparent than several months later when the section of city housing the triage center was vaporized by the almost unimaginable energies released by the detonation of Evangelion Unit 00.

That night, the unit handled only twenty-five injuries, most of them adults, so every staff member could easily remember the shell-shocked teenager sitting in the waiting area and staring at the small firecracker in his hand. Each could tell you, with his or her own personal inflection, how confused the boy was – as if his mind was simply repeating 'how did this happen?' over and over again.

None of them could say for sure, though, when it was that the boy closed his eyes and nodded off, the shock of the situation finally overcoming his senses, or what became of the cherry bomb that was in his hand. Perhaps it had fallen on the floor and been trampled in the hustle and bustle of the triage unit. Maybe it had been pocketed in preparation for the boy's impending trip to the surgical center, where more advanced life-support and stabilizing equipment would ensure his sister's then-questionable survival.

Or, perhaps… it had been dropped into the garbage can next to the row of seats the boy haunted, a meaningless symbol of a childhood now long gone, and forever unrecoverable.

The End

Author's summation: NERV would not have told Touji the truth about how his sister was hurt. His sister, facing horrible trauma, probably would not have been in a good frame of mind to give details on what happened to her. Media coverage is blacked out for EVA fights. The sum of these facts points to the conclusion that Touji knows what happened to his sister because he was there with her, or otherwise witnessed it. I consider this idea canonical, and unless someone else can offer a better theory, I'm sticking to it.

MacBeth2001 pre-read this little story to make sure I didn't misstep the sequence of events or make anything unrealistic happen.


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